RE: How times have changed RE: [Yuricon] Re: Oldies, but Goodies

I ve done a small manga/anime exhibit for Quatrefoil - our local GLBT library. The message from users seems to be that manga goes over, but nobody cares about

Message 1 of 22
, Nov 6, 2008

Message

I've
done a small manga/anime exhibit for Quatrefoil - our local GLBT library. The
message from users seems to be that manga goes over, but nobody cares about
anime. What is the youth of today coming to!?

> > Probably a year after that I saw a fansub of
the ROD OAV. I haven't> encountered many anime fans who aren't charmed
by that one. Important> distinction there, 'anime fans' to 'other
people'. I counted on that> when I took the DVD foldout poster to the
library I used to work at> and suggested using it in place of one of
their other reading> encouragement posters. Sometimes you have to do
these things to see> that 'not you again' sort of expression on your
supervisor's face.

At MangaNEXT, I was talking about how things have
changed in five years.This is another good example of how much things have
changed, I think.

In March, I will be doing two lectures at the Morris
County Library highlighting some of the many genres and gems of their
exceptional Graphic Novel section. It's separated by YA and adult titles, and
they range from any number of manga (some of which were donated by me, so they
have a lovely Yuri selection) to classic American superhero GNs to famous
comic artists to really funky Indie stuff.

I bet that if I brought a
"Read or Die" poster to that lecture, they'd be *thrilled* to put it
up.

> I've done a small manga/anime exhibit for Quatrefoil - our local GLBT library. The message from users seems to be that manga goes over, but nobody cares about anime. What is the youth of today coming to!?

That's not dissimilar from the way it is in any country. Think of Japanese otaku, for instance. Teens and kids read manga and some percentage of adults but, aside from kiddy cartoons with their children, very few adults watch anime.

I was speaking to a friend about it, and she simpy finds animation unappealing in general. Doesn't matter if it's CGI, anime, American, Simpsons, Korean, whatever. We strapped her down to watch "Yellow Submarine" a zillion years ago and she grudgingly said it didn't suck as bad as she expected. But that's it for her.

I went to 12 cons before ever watching an anime at a convention. Anime is harder. If there's not an instant visual or thematic hook, most folks won't give it more than an ep. Since women, particularly, as less visual and more conceptual, we're less tolerant than guys (generally, generally, I know there's exceptions to every rule...) of anime.

One day in Mexico I randomly saw a TV on at the hotel, showing a subbed anime and suddenly felt myself relax. It was so *odd.* Apparently I find Japanese animation to be like a visual comfort food. lol Color me 'otaku.'

Manga will grow, but I'm fairly certain that anime will always be less popular.

On a practical note, you can take a manga on a train, but it's a little more awkward to carry anime around. I managed to watch some on my iPod, but it was never really as comfortable as pulling out a manga or Japanese novel and reading that.

> I've done a small manga/anime exhibit for
Quatrefoil - our local GLBT library. The message from users seems to be that
manga goes over, but nobody cares about anime. What is the youth of today
coming to!?

That's not dissimilar from the way it is in any country.
Think of Japanese otaku, for instance. Teens and kids read manga and some
percentage of adults but, aside from kiddy cartoons with their children, very
few adults watch anime.

I was speaking to a friend about it, and she
simpy finds animation unappealing in general. Doesn't matter if it's CGI,
anime, American, Simpsons, Korean, whatever. We strapped her down to watch
"Yellow Submarine" a zillion years ago and she grudgingly said it didn't suck
as bad as she expected. But that's it for her.

I went to 12 cons before
ever watching an anime at a convention. Anime is harder. If there's not an
instant visual or thematic hook, most folks won't give it more than an ep.
Since women, particularly, as less visual and more conceptual, we're less
tolerant than guys (generally, generally, I know there's exceptions to every
rule...) of anime.

One day in Mexico I randomly saw a TV on at the
hotel, showing a subbed anime and suddenly felt myself relax. It was so *odd.*
Apparently I find Japanese animation to be like a visual comfort food. lol
Color me 'otaku.'

Manga will grow, but I'm fairly certain that anime
will always be less popular.

On a practical note, you can take a manga
on a train, but it's a little more awkward to carry anime around. I managed to
watch some on my iPod, but it was never really as comfortable as pulling out a
manga or Japanese novel and reading that.

> I went to 12 cons before ever watching an anime at a convention. Anime is
> harder. If there's not an instant visual or thematic hook, most folks won't
> give it more than an ep. Since women, particularly, as less visual and more
> conceptual, we're less tolerant than guys (generally, generally, I know
> there's exceptions to every rule...) of anime.

Similarly, Lea Hernandez had _Romantic Times_ tell her that they
considered CLOCKWORK ANGELS to be pornography (hence not suitable for
review in the magazine) because it was visual material with sexual
content. Never mind what most romance novels are like (which RT called
"erotica").

Jaymie C

Heh, looks like i missed out! My gateway yuri series (before i even knew the term existed) were A-ko, Sailor Moon, Utena. And now i gotta check out Idol

Message 5 of 22
, Nov 6, 2008

Heh, looks like i missed out! My gateway yuri series (before i even knew the term existed) were A-ko, Sailor Moon, Utena. And now i gotta check out Idol Project and Kekko Kamen! But as for Oniisama E, well, there is a torrent floating online of rips from fansubs. Varying quality, but a series that is EXTREMELY hard to find otherwise.

As for non-yuri gateways....Samurai Pizza Cats (looks shifty) what? it was FUNNY!

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